Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "vampire who feeds on blood" and urged Muslims to act against the "threat" posed by the Jewish state.
"The world is watching the barbarity of ... a psychopath, a vampire who feeds on blood called Netanyahu, and they are watching it on live broadcast," Erdoğan said in a speech to members of his AK Party.
"Oh, the American state, this blood is on your hands also. You are responsible for this genocide at least as much as Israel. Oh, the heads of state and government of Europe, you are also a party to Israel's genocide, this barbarism, this vampire-like act of Israel, because you remained silent," the Turkish leader charged, according to a readout.
"No state is safe unless Israel accepts international law and considers itself to be bound by it. This includes Turkey," added Erdoğan, who stands accused of oppressing and killing the Kurds in his country.
Erdoğan urged Muslims and "young people" around the world to help eradicate Zionism, which he denounced as "lawless perversion," and stop Netanyahu's "murder network" from "spiraling out of control."
"I have a few words to say to the Islamic world from here: What are you waiting for to reach a joint decision? Allah will hold you, all of us, accountable for this," he said.
Erdoğan has publicly sided with Hamas since the October 7 terrorist attacks, which saw the Islamist group invade the northwestern Negev, murder some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnap more than 250.
Last month, Ankara invited Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas's "political" bureau, to stay in the country, praising him as a "leader of the Palestinian struggle."
Erdoğan also blocked his country's exports to the Jewish state, prompting Israel to end its free trade agreement with Ankara.
In November, he told his country's parliament that Israel would soon be destroyed.
Erdoğan has made a habit of comparing Netanyahu and Israel to the Nazis. Late last year, he said the Jewish leader is "no different" than Hitler. Then, on May 12, the Turkish president claimed Netanyahu "has reached a level that would make Hitler jealous."
In March, Erdoğan claimed that the Israel Defense Forces "continues to commit massacres against the Palestinian people," adding, "Netanyahu and his administration, with their crimes against humanity in Gaza, are writing their names next to Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin, like today's Nazis."
The Turkish president also expressed his support for Hamas, saying his government was in "constant contact" with the terrorist group's leadership.
"Hamas is not a terrorist organization, but rather a resistance, and we stand firmly behind them and [are] in constant contact with its leaders," he said. "We cannot be coerced into designating Hamas as a terrorist organization. We communicate with them openly and stand behind them."
Netanyahu blasted the Turkish leader over the remarks, saying, "Israel observes the laws of war and will not be subject to moral preaching from Erdoğan, who supports [the] murderers and rapists of the Hamas terrorist organization, denies the Armenian Genocide, massacres Kurds in his own country and cracks down on regime opponents and journalists."
